Are potentially toxic cyanobacteria present in our lakes?
Yes. As Mike Perry’s article indicated, the Harris Chain of Lakes has high numbers of cyanobacteria, and several different kinds that can be toxic. The highest concentration of total cyanobacteria measured during the past year was over 2,000,000 per milliliter in samples of water taken from Lake Apopka. Only a few thousand of the two million cyanobacteria in those samples were potentially toxic. Over the last year it was not unusual for the levels of total cyanobacteria in some of the other lakes in the Harris Chain to exceed 500,000 per milliliter of water. In almost all of the lakes potentially toxic algae have been measured at or above 100,000 per milliliter at sometime during the last 12 months. 3. What are the signs that cyanobacteria are present in the water? Taste and odor problems can occur when cyanobacteria are present. The odors may be earthy, musty or grassy. The taste and odor problems can occur at levels well below levels considered to pose human health concerns, so they
